Vegan Pumpkin Swirl Brownies – fudgy oat flour brownie base marbled with spiced swirls of pumpkin on top. A gluten-free, oil-free, decadent fall dessert!
So remember last post where I said I might not post anything else pumpkin because that cake was just SO GOOD? And not even a week later, here we are. So yes, these brownies have made a liar out of me…but I regret nothing.
In my defense, this is very different than cake. Because a) chocolate and b) fudgy chocolate and c) ALL THE CHOCOLATE. These brownies are quite chocolatey, as you may have guessed. They are also pumpkin swirly and spiced, because pumpkin pairs beautifully with chocolate. And in the ongoing brownie battle between fudgy and cakey, they lean more towards Team Fudgy. But not so fudgy you question whether they escaped the oven prematurely, the texture is still undeniably baked.
And…well…words can only do so much here, you just need to EXPERIENCE them. In real life. Brownie to pumpkin-loving face style. Get all up in that swirly orange top and hunky dark chocolate underneath.
If that’s not on your bucket list, what are you even doing with your life?
The brownie. The brownie base is adapted from this reader favorite, but with added pumpkin and extra chocolate. There is a reason everyone loves those, and that reason is melted chocolate. Cocoa powder is great, but for a seriously rich brownie melted chocolate is where it’s at.
I did make a few tweaks – I decreased the amount of melted chocolate, switched to unsweetened chocolate and added coconut sugar to sweeten, and significantly upped the amount of cocoa powder. All these chocolatey changes made for a less sweet, more dark chocolate brownie, which personally I love in contrast to the pumpkin on top.
But if you wanted to use the original recipe, that would work too. Just replace the applesauce with pumpkin puree. Done.
The batch size this time around is a bit bigger too. Because sometimes you just want a super thick HUNKY brownie, ya know?
The pumpkin swirls. Think of these as pockets of pumpkin pie nestled into the fudgiest “crust” there ever was.
We’re working with canned pumpkin, non-dairy yogurt, tapioca starch (you can also use corn or arrowroot starch), coconut sugar, and a big spoonful of pumpkin pie spice. Why yogurt? Because usually marbled brownies are made with cream cheese, so non-dairy yogurt adds a similar creamy tangy element. But it’s easier to find vegan yogurt, and usually with better ingredients too. I used Kite Hill almond milk yogurt here.
And if you are currently thinking that this mixture would be really really hard not to just eat with a spoon, you would be right.
One very important tip! Because there is quite a bit of melted chocolate in this batter, if any of your ingredients are cold the batter will thicken a LOT before you can even get it into the pan. And by a lot I mean too much to gracefully swirl with the plops of pumpkin. So make sure your non-dairy milk and pumpkin are at room temperature or warmer before mixing.
Yep, learned that one the hard way. Still tasty though!
And since Brandi (from The Vegan 8, obviously) and I always seem to be freakishly on the same baking page, you should probably go drool over her cake-style pumpkin brownies too. Maybe make both and do a side-by-side? It’s your pumpkin season, live it up.
Happy pumpkin-swirly brownie baking to you!
Vegan Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 brownies 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Vegan Pumpkin Swirl Brownies – fudgy oat flour brownie base marbled with spiced swirls of pumpkin on top. A gluten-free, oil-free, decadent fall dessert!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) oat flour
- 1 cup (80g) cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
- 2/3 cup (105g) coconut sugar
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water)
- 6oz unsweetened chocolate
- 1 cup (240g) non-dairy milk
- 3/4 cup (190g) pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Pumpkin Swirl
- 1/2 cup (125g) pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (120g) non-dairy yogurt
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch (or cornstarch/arrowroot starch)
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Mix together all the ingredients for the swirl until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Prepare the flax eggs and set aside to gel.
- Melt the chocolate.
- In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, cacao powder, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until no clumps remain.
- In a small bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk, flax eggs, and vanilla. Mix to combine. Make sure this mixture is at room temperature or warm, otherwise the batter will seize up due to the melted chocolate.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry along with the melted chocolate. Stir to combine, don’t over mix.
- Transfer to a baking pan that has been oiled or lined with parchment paper. I used this 9×6″ baking dish, but a regular square pan is fine too the brownies will just be slightly thinner.
- Use a spoon to make indentations in the batter, and fill with the pumpkin yogurt mixture.
- Use a straw or spoon handle to swirl.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F.
- Remove from the oven and cool before slicing.
- Eat.
- Keep leftovers covered in the fridge. They will be fudgier once chilled (personally I prefer them that way!)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 brownie
- Calories: 291
- Sugar: 17g
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 8g
- Protein: 7g
Keywords: vegan, gluten-free, fall, baking, chocolate, oil free, easy, dessert, fudgy
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This video is epic! I love the idea of using yogurt instead of cream cheese for the pumpkin swirl. Thick, fudge-y, pumpkin packed brownies FTW!
Yogurt is AMAZING! Who needs vegan cream cheese anyways🙄 Haha! The smaller the pan the hunkier the brownie and I am ALL about that🤗
would potato starch function the same way as tapioca starch in this recipe?…. potato starch is a resistant starch and even though it’s baked, I was hoping for a little bit of that effect as opposed to the tapioca… What are your thoughts?
I’ve never tried potato starch for thickening/setting a mixture like this so I’m not sure. And I know they aren’t 1-for-1 subs so the amount may be slightly different too. It’s not a starch I work with often so I can’t predict, you will just have to try it and see😊
Can you substitute dates or date paste for the sugar?
Hmm I haven’t tested it in this one and I worry that will make them too moist/gooey, but you could try it!
Thanks! Love your recipes. When are you going to write a book?
Liz
Nothing in the works right now, but hopefully one day 🙂
Ok, yes, here we are again with the same mind, bahahaha! Hey, I like to think we are just both really brilliant with food ideas, right? Lmao!! I love chocolate and pumpkin together! I’ve done it in my cake, frosting and brownies and it is SO awesome for moisture and it doesn’t overpower, which I really like. I’m absolutely drooling over your swirl here, it’s gorgeous!! I totally thought this was a marble cake at first and I was laughing because I have a marble cake I’m working on for a reader request and thought, oh here we go again with the same idea, lol! But nope, just another idea that we both wanted to post at the same time, it’s too funny. And even funnier that we both have cocoa powder and melted chocolate, lol! Great minds. Yours look way prettier though than mine with that swirl, it is such a beautiful orange color. I’m just too excited to see all the pumpkin treats popping up now. I’ve been working on some pumpkin muffins too this past week but 3 failed trials and I’m getting quite annoyed. Send some pumpkin magic fairies my way please! Totally in love with your beautiful recipe Natalie and thank you for the shout out, that was sweet of you!
Oh yes, it’s in sync BRILLIANCE for sure😂 But I can’t believe you have marbled cake things in the works too, this is getting a little out of hand lol. Pumpkin too? Well regardless, I’m looking forward to it. Your cake/muffin type things are always the best. OMG pleeeeeeeease don’t give up on the pumpkin muffins though🙏 Muffins are my favorite, I need them in my fall life! Sending all the fairies and magic and maybe a few pumpkin unicorns to you🦄😘
Hi — Is the water measurement for the flax eggs correct? Usually a flax egg uses 3 tablespoons of water, but this says 3 teaspoons per egg. Thanks for any info!
Ah that’s a typo! Sorry, thanks for catching it🙈 You are correct, it’s supposed to be 3 tablespoons!
Thanks for fixing it!
Just made these and they are absolutely delicious!! I love the combination of brownies and pumpkin, and now I’m even more excited for fall and Halloween!!
★★★★★
YAY!! I am so happy you liked them Theresa🤗 Ha I know right, I’m like is it October yet? Thanks for the feedback and enjoy the rest🎃🍫
Can you use regular eggs or chia seeds instead of flax eggs thank you
Haven’t tried it with chia, but yes two regular eggs works!
Loved it! Super easy to make and delicious! I used wheat flour (1:1 ratio) and it turned out great.
★★★★★
Aww perfect! I’m so happy you liked them Chris, and great to know the wheat worked too 🙂
Amazing as always Natalie!! And just so you know, though I don’t comment on every recipe, I do check your website everyday for your delicious creations and they really are greatly appreciated! Thanks for your hard work!❤️
★★★★★
Aww Saskia, that means SO much to me thank you❤️❤️
These are good! I love the tang from the pumpkin/yogurt mixture – I used Kite Hill vanilla and it was delicious! I did these on the gooey side!
★★★★★
YAY! I am so so happy you liked them, Kayla🤗 I love the idea to use vanilla instead of plain yogurt too, I gotta try that!
Hard for my rating to count since I made a substitution that may have caused my brownies to take 40 minutes to bake. I used spelt flakes and oat flakes to make my own oat flour. 🤯 Next time I really won’t do that again unless I figure out EXACTLY what else to change so the recipe will produce good results. I’m used to my results/messes and so they still taste good even if I may need to use a spoon.
★★★
Yes that would definitely change things😬 Did they turn out mushy or…?
Mine also turned out mushy/uncooked even though I kept them in for more than double the original time 🙁
★★
I am so sorry to hear that, what size pan did you use?
How long will this recipe keep?
In the fridge in an airtight container, a week or so! They won’t go bad even a little past that, just get dry 🙂
Has anyone tried using regular flour for this recipe? If so, did they turn out okay??
Hmm haven’t gotten any feedback on that swap yet, but should be fine 🙂
I kind of did/kind of didn’t do the recipe. I used Duncan Hines brownie mix with 1C pumpkin purée, and 1/4C water, and then I used the rest of the can to make the pumpkin swirl part. It’s SO good! My mom and I devoured practically half the pan. I used an 8×8 btw, and there was plenty of pumpkin swirl, I wasn’t sure if there would be too much but there wasn’t after it was baked. The pumpkin swirl set really nicely and baked well, I used a little less brown sugar in place of the coconut sugar and it turned out fine. This was AMAZING!
★★★★★
Oh that is GENIUS! Even easier and still you get the delicious chocolate + pumpkin thing going on🎃🍫😋 I am so happy you both liked them, thanks for sharing this idea and feedback Eva!
Hi
Any suggestion for sugar. Need to make this sugar free
Thanks
You could try using stevia or monk fruit in place of the coconut sugar, but I don’t ever work with artificial sweeteners so I can’t really say how much you will have to experiment. That swap may make them a bit more dry too since the coconut sugar adds moisture as well as sweetness. Good luck!
Can I replace the coconut sugar with maple syrup or honey?
Either would add a lot more liquid than the coconut sugar so I don’t recommend it here. Sorry!
FABULOUS! Deep chocolate taste, rich, fudgy, with a hint of pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin swirls on top. Easy to make. Came out perfectly in an 8 x 8 pan. I think these are too good to confine to just the fall. I hereby resolve to live dangerously and have them in July when no one else is thinking of pumpkins, but I’ve never conformed much to tradition, so why start now?
Mine turned out to be super fudgy! Is that normal? I followed the recipe exact
Mine turned out super fudgy! I don’t know why not like the picture 😕 is it normal? I followed the recipe
Hmm they should be somewhere in between cakey and fudgy, did you measure by weight or volume? Not sure what happened…
Made this recipe today….amazing flavor. The chocolate part of the brownie baked perfectly. However, the pumpkin swirl stayed mushy. I’m wondering if cooking the tapicoca with the pumpkin before adding would help? It also could be the type of yogurt I used. Not sure what the issue was. I may make the recipe again and just not add the pumpkin swirl. I think this recipe could be delicious even without it!:)
I am so happy you tried them Sheryl! Yes I have a feeling it is the type of yogurt that is the issue, a higher fat thicker yogurt will work better here. Or even use vegan cream cheese if you are open to that. You could absolutely try cooking/thickening with tapioca too!
Thank you for these tips! I love your recipes! You are one of my fav foodies! 🙂
Appreciate the support Sheryl❤️
Hi! Curious if you think I could use an all purpose gluten free flour blend instead of the oat flour?
Thanks!
Yes I do think that would work, Allison!
Hi Natalie,
what unsweetened dark chocolate did you use? The link for it no longer works. Thank you
It was either the Baker’s or Ghirardelli 100% cacao bar, I don’t remember exactly for this recipe but those are my go tos!